Profitable Feedback

An email survey request lands this morning in my inbox from the UK’s Conservative Party Chairman, Andrew Feldman (I am not a member), titled “I want to hear what you think”. It asks a friendly and logical set of “screening” questions about my future intent to become more involved in supporting the Party. What the questions fail to address are my emotional imperatives (the “why” questions) in getting involved.

It is a common shortcoming of so many feedback or consultative initiatives in businesses, large and small, who are encouraged to “get closer to their clients” or “better understand their client needs”. Face-to-face dialogue, focus groups, surveys and third party feedback that stops shorts of eliciting the really valuable responses due to weak questions or questioning techniques. The result is a low value process, which moves the questioner an inch, not a mile, closer to gaining the other person’s future commitment.

Do you want to know what your customers think or do you want to better understand what might motivate them to act upon anything you might suggest they do? The former gives you information, the latter gives you the expressway to cash or increased commitment. That’s a huge difference.